Catalyst
by Silver Inklett
Summary: Levy is sure there's something to Kurogane that they're all missing; but between juggling her teammates, her duties as a superhero, and her growing attraction to the armored supervillain, finding out what it is may be more than she can handle. [Super Hero AU, prequel to 'Rooftops']
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Any and all OCs and original concepts belong to me._

* * *

Trigger warning for lots of violence.

* * *

Levy grunted, her back hitting the brick wall and her head snapping back painfully. She had no time to recover as she dropped into a crouch, a metal fist slamming into the brick where her head had been just a moment ago, and she swung her legs out at the large man in front of her. He laughed at her attempts to knock him off balance as he flipped out of the way, and Levy snarled.

She wasn't used to solo fighting, but Jet was at home with his newborn son, and Droy was still recovering from their last job, so Levy was left on her own to face off against Kurogane. He wasn't exactly her nemesis, per say (and Levy was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that nemesises were a thing that she could have now), but it tended to be her team that was called whenever the armored man caused trouble.

It just happened that her trio today was down to a solo, and Kurogane looked a little too pleased by that fact.

"Where's yer teammates, short-stack?" he called tauntingly, his smirk a vicious thing, and she wanted to kick his teeth in.

Levy pushed herself off the ground with a yell, trying not to wobble too much as she lifted herself into the air and aimed her foot at Kurogane's grin. Flying was a new trick she had been learning, but she prayed it looked more frightening than humorous. "I told them to take the night off," she responded with a snarl as her heel met his raised forearm, flipping herself through the air and over his head. "Didn't think you were that big of a threat!"

"Yer a lot quippy-er without yer lapdogs," he crowed, and if she didn't know better, Levy would think he was enjoying this. But the scales on his forearm raised and sharpened like the world's most deadly pinecone, and Levy was yanking herself up into the air to avoid his sharpened grasp.

She wavered uncertainly in the air, waving her arms as she tried to maintain her mental grip on herself. Her training was paying off, but she was still having trouble lifting heavier items, and at a healthy 125, she was still the heaviest thing she'd ever tried to carry with her telekinesis. Below her, Kurogane laughed.

"Still getting used to your wings, Bluebird?"

Levy narrowed her eyes, and let go. She let gravity pull her down towards the supervillain, her heel leading the way; but he grinned, and rolled out of the way just as her foot was an inch from making contact with his jaw. She barely managed to snap herself back into the air before she crashed back into the roof and probably broke her leg.

Kurogane cackled. "Ya know, this is a lot more fun when yer actually fighting instead of cowering behind Speedy and the Weed!"

"Their names are Jetstream and Thorn!" Levy yelled, feeling the air start to quiver around her as her frustration grew. Reaching out with her mind, Levy imagined invisible ropes reaching around her, searching for a weapon. She spotted a pile of broken bricks towards the corner, and she threw them all at Kurogane, watching as he yelped and brought his arms up to block his face. Nothing could get through his metal scales, but Levy had figured out pretty quickly that if you hit him hard enough, it would hurt the (assumed) soft flesh underneath.

"And I do not _cower," _she bit out in satisfaction when he turned and glared at her, his mocking smile nowhere to be found.

He pulled his arm back, nails elongating to claws and blades rising along his forearms, but he froze before he could make good on the threat in his eyes. His head cocked to the side, and Levy nearly had to do a double take when Kurogane seemed to pout.

"Well, that's the end of our fun," he said, claws and blades retreating back into his armored arm. "Let's do this again sometime, just the two of us. It's more fun that way, bluebird."

"I'm not called Bluebird!" Levy yelled. He simply saluted mockingly at her, and before she could land and chase after him, he went over the edge of the building with a single, graceful, backwards step and was gone.

Landing heavily and stumbling to the edge, Levy looked down into the empty alley way that lined the building they had been on, only now hearing the police sirens that must have been what sent Kurogane running. She remembered the way his sharpened canines glinted in the city lights as he taunted her, and slammed her fist into the nearby air duct with a growl.

She really hated that bastard.

* * *

"Next time, I call dibs on babysitter duty."

Levy didn't bother turning to look at Droy, instead focusing on cooing at her adorable godson as she changed his diaper and he tried to grab some of her blue curls in his chubby hands. "Yeah right, you hate babies," she reminded him.

"I hate babies that aren't my nephew," he clarified. "Besides, I've babysat Jamie before!"

"You had to call the fire department and Sela had an anxiety attack."

"Okay, I've babysat Jamie _with Natsu_ before. I can do it! Besides, I've taken the last two calls!"

"You were also out of commission for the two weeks before that," Levy said as she finished cleaning up the changing table, scooping Jamie into her arms and blowing a raspberry against his cheek, sending the three-month-old into peals of laughter. Both superheros fell silent to stare in wonder at their teammate and best friend's son, and that's how Sela and Jet found them.

"Aw, did _miho_ do something adorable again?" Sela cooed, taking her grinning son from Levy's arms and giving the shorter woman a grateful kiss on the cheek. "Hope he didn't give you too much trouble, Levy."

"Not at all," she responded with a grin. "He was an angel, as always. You guys have fun running your errands?" Jet groaned for the kitchen, and Droy laughed at his best friend's misery.

"We got what we needed," Sela said in that satisfied tone that typically meant that she had showed Jet his ass after he had been difficult, and Levy silently applauded the woman. Sela and Jet had been married for nearly five years now, and Levy was still amazed by how effortlessly they loved each other.

"Yo, Jet," Droy called, leaning forward from where he had been reclining against the couch, "Levy and I were just talking about who got to babysit Jamie next time we got a call-"

"You're not allowed to watch my son alone ever again!" Jet called back, giving Sela a quick kiss as she headed into the bedroom to feed Jamie and he passed in the opposite direction to join his teammates in the living room. "I still remember what happened last time."

"That was all Natsu, I swear!"

Levy laughed, covering her grin with her mouth, and Droy pouted at them both. "Come on guys, I've had to go head on head with Kurogane!"

"So have I," Levy said with a shrug.

"Yeah, but you can _fly," _Droy stressed, ignoring Jet's snicker of "Barely" and a oven mitt throwing itself at his head with a satisfying '_bomph_'. "He always gets more aggressive when we go at him one-on-one."

Levy's eyebrows furrowed together. "Really?"

"Yeah," he grumbled, "he does that annoying pinecone thing and none of my vines can get a good grip on him without getting shredded."

Jet and Droy got into an in depth discussion if Kurogane would react better to "Pinecone" or "Porcupine" as a taunt, leaving Levy to her own thoughts. Whenever she took on Kurogane alone, he treated it like a game; bantering and dodging her attacks with ease. Her cheeks burned at the thought of him not taking her seriously, and she decided that the next time they fought, she wouldn't hold back.

* * *

One of the worst parts of being part of an official superhero guild, hands down, was the patrol. Back when it was just her and her two boys, patrol was sitting in their apartment, dicking around and playing some board game they had pulled out of her closet (Monopoly had been banned after the Hydrant Fight Incident) until their police scanner picked up something that they decided required a little more supernatural help than the normal hold-up.

But now that they were a part of Fairy Tail, Levy would simply get a text from her "local bookstore", telling her which section of the city to patrol in and for how long, and she would be expected to be out and jumping from roof to roof. It was an efficient network, and necessary for a city as big and riddled with crime as Magnolia, but Levy despised the unpredictability of it all. She could never make plans to go out past 8 since she never knew if she'd be able to make it or not. Not that she really had a lot of friends who weren't in Fairy Tail with her, but the point stood.

At least having to fly all over town gave her a chance to practice her control.

Levy had been flying past the seedier part of downtown when she heard the muttering. There were two voices, close enough that she could hear them but far enough away that she couldn't make out the words. She did, however, recognize the low rumble of Kurogane's voice, and that was enough incentive for her to drop to the roof and sneak silently towards the edge.

Pulling her hair away from her face, she leaned over the edge. Kurogane was standing there, looking frustrated with something, and for a moment she couldn't find who he was talking to. But then something in the shadows shimmered, and Levy was quickly able to make out the form of Tempest, another of Magnolia's supervillains and the only one Kurogane had ever worked with. She was a fearsome fighter, a literal force of nature with her body that was completely made of water. She, like Kurogane, was practically impossible to land a hit on, and it amused Levy that they seemed to stick together like opposite ends of two magnets. She was amazed that Tempest hadn't accidentally rusted Kurogane yet.

"_Are you sure you can go through with it?" _Tempest asked in her voice that normally sounded like roaring waves, but now sounded like the receding tide, and it took Levy a few moments to realize that they were speaking in French.

"_Me? I should be asking you." _The words flowed easily in Kurogane's low baritone, and something at the base of Levy's spine clenched and heated. "_You've never been good with this kind of stuff-"_

"_Keep your promise to get everyone out and I'll be just fine," _she responded, and Kurogane laughed. It wasn't his normal, somewhat-manic laugh that always put Levy's nerves on edge. It was a nice laugh, full and throaty and surprisingly kind. It was confusing.

"_Come on Tempy, when have I ever dropped the ball on you?"_

"_Well, there was the firehouse, the North Magnolia Bank, that one party with the emerald-"_

"_When it mattered," _Kurogane grumbled, and it was Tempest's turn to laugh.

"_Don't get huffy with me because I don't let you get away with flirting," _she teased him - and again, it was so familiar and kind, like it was a conversation they'd had a hundred times but would never get tired of - and Levy's eyebrows furrowed together. Flirting? Who was Kurogane flirting with?

"_I don't flirt!" _

Apparently no one.

"_Oh, you most certainly do."_

Apparently someone important?

Levy was starting to get a headache trying to riddle it out while straining her hearing and making sure she was translating everything right in her head.

"_Well, there won't be any flirting this time," _he said with a huff, hands resting on his hips. "_The boss is depending on this to go without a hitch." _Tempest didn't seem to have a response to that, and they stood in an awkward silence while the sounds of the city at night pulsed around them.

"_I don't like it."_

"_We don't have to like it, we just have to do it." _

It wasn't long after that that Tempest sunk into the sewers and Kurogane started leaping across rooftops, piercings and armor reflecting the light from the full moon, leaving Levy to lay out on the roof and try to process everything she had just heard. Despite all the new information she had just gathered - apparently Tempest and Kurogane's relationship was closer than they realized, Max would want to know that for his records -, Levy's thoughts seemed to only be able to circle around the way the ease had left both of their voices by the end of the conversation, and how Kurogane's face had twisted into an expression that looked so frustrated and helpless that it left her reeling.

* * *

Left hook, right block, jump, roundhouse. Flip back, get back into fighting stance, chest block.

Levy went through the motions mechanically as the world dissolved into chaos around her, keeping up with Kurogane easily as she tried to keep tabs on everything around her. "We've moved all of the civilians out of the building!" Droy yelled to the team of firefighters that had been deployed when the Phantom Lord had hijacked the news broadcast and made his very flashy bomb threat. It was vague enough that it had taken Max, Warren, and Mirajane a good three minutes to figure out which building he was even talking about, and once they had, Shadowgear had descended in full force.

"Ya seem a little distracted, bluebird!" Kurogane taunted, and she grit her teeth at him. Every time she made to land an impactful hit, his helpless expression would flash behind her eyelids, and her moment of hesitation would give him the time to throw her away from him. It was getting increasingly aggravating, and Kurogane seemed to be pulling energy from her anger like she was a compact, telekinetic battery charger.

Levy was about to tell the grinning supervillain about her plans for her boot and his tonsils when a loud _beep _echoed through the crowded street. Droy's vines pushed the civilians further back, away from the apartment building that had been rigged to blow, and Kurogane's grin got wider.

"One minute left, shorty. Where's yer other teammate?" he asked, and Levy leapt at him with a yell, nails bared as she aimed for his eyeballs. He cackled and grabbed one of her wrists once she was close enough, jerking her down and yanking her into his chest, his arm a heavy brace around her chest and arm. She could feel his chest pressing against her shoulders with each heavy breath, and felt a little satisfied that she had managed to wind him. "Here, we can watch it go up together," he said as she struggled against his hold. "I'll even forgive you for forgetting the popcorn."

"You're a pig!" Levy yelled as she struggled against his hold. She knew better than to try and headbutt her way out of it; that would only end in Kurogane laughing at her as she reeled from having her brain rattled around after slamming her head full force into his metal plating. His arm dropped to her waist, his other hand still holding tight to her wrist, and Levy wondered if it looked to the civilians like some warped dance.

"Shadow!" Droy called out to her, barely managing to dodge an attack from Tempest's water whip before trying to get a good hold on her with his vines.

"Focus on your fight, I'm fine!" Levy ordered, and Kurogane laughed against the shell of her ear. It was that rumbley laugh that he had used with Tempest, and this time she could feel it rolling in his chest and in her own.

"Big talk from such a little thing-"

He grunted as Jet's foot slammed full force into his jaw, his hold on Levy tightening as he stumbled back. She cried out in pain, the bones of her wrist grinding together, and as quickly as his grip had tightened on her, it loosened again. Jet landed on his feet, glaring at Kurogane with such malice and hatred that she felt a shiver go down her back. She sometimes forgot how scary her friends could be.

"Did you find the bomb?" one of the firemen called out, and Levy saw Jet grimace behind his mask.

"Negative!" he responded, obviously annoyed that he hadn't been able to find it, and Kurogane chuckled behind her.

"Twenty seconds," he sang in her ear, and damn his armor, she was going to break his nose or die trying.

"Please, I can't find my daughter!"

Levy jerked her head around to stare at horror at the man who had thrown himself against the vines holding the people away from the literal time bomb that their homes had become, his expression frantic and tears running down his cheeks. "My little girl's still in there!" he cried, and the grip on her was suddenly gone. She turned just in time to see Kurogane race into the building, Tempest calling out his name in a tone not far off from the father's.

"Jetstream!" Levy yelled, still staring at the building, eyes wide. "Can you-?"

"What floor!?" Jet screamed at the man, but the father had already dissolved into loud sobbing, and they all looked at the building helplessly.

"There's only five seconds left!" Tempest yelled at them, and Levy felt her heart drop to her feet. Even Jet couldn't run that fast.

"Can you stop it?" she begged, and the answer was clear in the agony in Tempest's watery eyes.

A single beep was all the warning they had, and Levy quickly threw up a shield as the building exploded, shrapnel and fire and brick pressing at her wall of compressed air that separated everyone on the street from the explosion. Through the ringing in her ears and the spots in her vision, Levy could make out a large form running out of the building, wrapped completely around a girl no older than four, the flames reflecting off his armor.

* * *

"And then he just ran off?"

"Mhmm," Levy responded, focusing on the weight on the floor in front of her. It was two hundred pounds today, the heaviest she had ever tried to lift, and Simon had forbade her from moving her body while trying to lift it with her powers. "He set the girl down out of way of the damage, and then he and Tempest were gone."

"That is rather unusual," Simon said, rubbing his jaw as he thought it over. "Then again, there are several villains with a policy against killing children. Levy, your fingers."

She cursed as he noticed how she had curled her finger to make it easier to lift the weight. Her powers were mainly mental, but it was easier for her to imagine the invisible reach of her telekinesis when she had the physical path for it to follow. She was just grateful he hadn't blindfolded her and made her try and grab it with her vision gone. Those exercises were the worst.

"Sorry," she grumbled. "And I asked Mirajane about it, and according to our records, Kurogane's never killed _anyone _before. Not even indirectly!"

"Where are you trying to go with this?" her coach asked. Levy's concentration faltered, and the weight dropped a foot before she got a hold on it again.

"I'm not going anywhere with it," she defended, "I just found it odd. Who normally dealt with him before the three of us came along?"

Simon grimaced. "Natsu was typically the one to deal with Kurogane before, but that resulted in too much property damage and so they stopped sending him." Levy snorted, thinking of the overenthusiastic pyrokinetic. "I think Lucy's team had a fight or two with him before as well. Fingers."

Levy cussed, clenching her hands into fists and glaring at the weight. "... I can't help but feel like there's more to Kurogane," Levy muttered. "Some missing piece that we aren't seeing."

"Levy," Simon sighed. "Sometimes good people do bad things, and other times bad people do good. It's not as black and white as I know Master Makarov likes to think it is." His eyes had that far-off look to them that they always had whenever he was thinking of the time before Erza brought him to Fairy Tail. She wished she had the courage to ask what had happened. "But you can't just assume the best, especially with someone like Kurogane. He's dangerous, Levy, and tragic backstory or not, you have to remember that when you're fighting him."

Levy didn't respond, the corners of her mouth tightening. She had watched as Kurogane had set the girl down after they had escaped the burning building, and there was nothing but raw fear and concern etched on his metal features. He'd calmed her down before leaving, and for a moment, Levy could have sworn she had seen into the heart of him, the softness under his armor.

That, and the conversation she had overheard, had convinced her that there was more to Kurogane, and she wanted to find out what it was.

"Fingers, Levy."

"_GAAH!"_

* * *

Kurogane was a very difficult man to pin down, Levy had decided. She'd watched him carry a little girl with all the care and gentleness as if she were his own, but she'd also watched as he'd thrown full-grown men into brick walls with no mercy. She had felt how he had immediately loosened his grip on her arm when he'd held her too tight, but she was also covered in bruises most nights from her fights with him.

Yes, Kurogane was certainly an enigma.

He was also a huge _pain_ in her _ass_ and potential softness be damned, she wanted to break his face.

"Just ya tonight, bluebird?" he asked with a wide smirk as she alighted on the rooftop where he stood, moneybags gripped tightly in hands she had seen wipe soot and tears from a child's face. "And here I'd thought ya'd forgotten my request. What'a doll."

"My name isn't Bluebird, and it isn't doll either," Levy responded, but there was none of the normal sarcasm or bite in her voice. She watched him carefully, trying to match up the two sides of him without getting whiplash.

"Well until ya got a name, you're just gonna have to deal," he said with a shrug, dropping the bags to the ground and bringing his fists up.

"My name's Shadow."

"Naw, that's yer team's name." Levy's cheeks puffed up, and he grinned. "Tell me yers."

"We gonna fight or not?"

"Always playing so hard to get! How about this?" Kurogane held his arms out. "I'll give ya the first shot free."

Levy shrugged. "Very well."

She flung her arms out, imagining invisible ropes leaping from her hands and coiling tightly around Kurogane's wrists. He grunted in surprise as she yanked her hands back towards her hips, and he stumbled forwards. "The hell!?" he yelled, and Levy grinned at him with gritted teeth.

"I've got some questions for you," she said in a strained voice, focusing intensely as he started to fight her hold. It was much harder for Levy to get a hold of things that could move on their own, and seeing as Kurogane not only moved, but was well over 200 pounds, to say she was having a difficult time holding him would be an understatement. But she was determined, and Jet and Droy had always told her that her stubbornness was her strongest trait.

"Let me go!" he growled, red eyes flashing. Levy simply shook her head.

"Why'd you do it?" she asked, breathing heavily. Her grip was already starting to slip.

"Because I could!" Kurogane said with a roll of his eyes. "Because I needed the money. Because I'm an insufferable bastard-"

"No!" Levy bit out. "Why did you save that girl from the bomb!"

Kurogane's eyes widened, and Levy cried out when he yanked back and she lost her hold on him. She fell to her knees, gasping for breath and gritting her teeth against the headache beating an angry rhythm against her temple. When she looked up at him, he was frozen, staring at her with a blank expression that would make any poker player jealous.

"What do ya mean?" he asked, and this time his voice was quiet. Nervous.

"You risked your own life to save her," Levy said between panting breaths. "I saw you, Kurogane. You calmed her down and wiped off her face before you disappeared. You didn't have to. So why?"

Something flickered in his expression, just behind the steel armor and the piercings. She watched him carefully as his mouth pressed into a thin line.

"... I ain't in the business of killin' kids," he responded finally, his voice low and deep.

"You haven't killed anyone," Levy said just as softly.

"Why do you care?" he asked, regarding her warily. "Tryin' to get the dirt on me?"

She laughed, and when she smiled at him she swore his jaw dropped just a bit. "I don't think any guy who would treat a kid like that could be totally bad," she said with a shrug, and he gaped at her.

They were frozen like that, Levy on her knees and Kurogane watching her, the forgotten money bags slumped over behind him, until they both heard the police sirens approaching. Kurogane cursed, gritting his teeth together.

"We'll finish this later," he promised her with a growl, heading towards the ledge just behind her.

Levy nodded. "I look forward to it."

As he passed her, he ducked down to whisper an "Until next time" in her ear, and she swore she felt the brush of cold lips against her cheekbone.

* * *

_Part one of the Rooftops prequel! I couldn't stop thinking about that fic, and after the great response to the first one, I ended up with this mess. Gonna be a few differences between what's been established in Rooftops and what's canon in this fic, but that tends to happen with such a large gap between writing and having more time to delve deeper into this world._

_Sela is Lionus and I's OC, we share custody lol. She was originally perceived when we were wondering about Jet's girlfriend during the seven year timeskip, and then I gave Lionus the challenge to come up with a backstory for said girlfriend, and we both just ran with it. A million thanks to Lionus for letting me use her (and for helping me come up with a name for her and Jet's son), and I hope you guys like her!_

_The next part should be up sometime soonish, and not gonna lie, thiiiiiis is where this whole fic dissolves into a vehicle for smut. I don't know when the next part with be up, what with my desire to update nest fic and vows fic and such, but it will be up at some point. This fic is going to be three parts in total, and I'm really excited to share all of them with you. _

_Thanks for reading (and reviewing *winkwink*)!_

* * *

_do-fairys-have-tails . tumblr . com_


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Any and all OCs and original concepts belong to me. Cover image is property of __Brian Calabrese Photography._

* * *

**_This fic contains some material that may be triggering (Physical violence)._**

* * *

"For christ's sake, Levy, will you stop clicking your pen!?" Levy jerked out of her thoughts, looking over at Lucy with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, Lu," she said, setting her pen back on the desk and scooting it out of reach. It was a slow day at the library, and Levy had exhausted every possible way she could think of to keep herself, and her thoughts, distracted. But now, all the books had been shelved, all the cleaning she could do was done, and all the emails she had been putting off for weeks had been replied to.

And it was still two hours before she could go home.

"What is with you recently?" Lucy asked, watching as her friend started to drum her knuckles against the desk. Levy grimaced and shoved her hands between her knees to keep them still.

"Just… have a lot of pent up energy," she murmured, looking away from Lucy with a twist to her mouth.

Pent up energy, sexual frustration; they were basically the same thing, right?

It had started with the brush of his lips against her cheek after she had tried to question Kurogane about the bombing incident. They'd run into each other a few other times since then, and though he always avoided her questions, it seemed he had found a new way to try and get the upper hand on her.

Kurogane had started stealing kisses.

They weren't grand, sweep-you-off-your-feet gestures, just little pecks stolen while fighting. And never on her lips. Her knuckles, cheeks, ears, shoulders- hell, he even managed to nip at the sensitive back of her knee! The barest scrape of his teeth or brush of his lips, then he'd smirk at her and disappear.

He never did it whenever Jet and Droy were both with her, but sometimes when it was just herself and Jet (whenever Sela was available to watch Jaime with Droy, which was often), or herself and Droy, he'd sneak one in the middle of their fight when he thought they wouldn't notice. They hadn't, and he'd always grin at her in that self-satisfied way for the rest of the fight.

The worst part was, she was kissing him back! Well, she was stealing kisses as well.

She had just been so frustrated by his stupid smirk! Grinning at her like they were playing a game and he was so far ahead of her on the scoreboard that she had no hope of catching up. So frustrated, in fact, that the next time she had aimed a punch at him (thank god for her reinforced gloves) and he grabbed her arm - pinning her against his chest with a smug grin - she had raised herself up to her toes and scraped her teeth behind the shell of his ear; where the scales of his armor were thinner and small patches of dark, smooth skin could be seen before his crazy mane of hair started.

Kurogane had apparently been so shocked by her retaliation that he had dropped his hold on her, and Levy managed to get in a good kick to his jaw before he heard police sirens and took off, leading her on a chase halfway around the city.

Soon it was like a game between the two; whoever could steal the first kiss of the night won. Levy knew she should have told someone about it by now; her teammates or Simon. Hell, even Makarov! But…

Levy still wasn't fully convinced Kurogane was the terrible monster everyone thought him to be. His kisses never crossed the line into creepy, and when she had first kissed him back and the shock had worn off, a boyish grin of delight had sprung up on his metal features, and it had softened him exponentially. There was something they were all missing, and her curiosity be damned, she wanted to know what it was.

It also didn't hurt that Kurogane was, in his own way, _very _attractive.

"-evy! Levy!" Manicured fingers appeared in Levy's line of sight, literally snapping her out of her thoughts. "Are you back on Earth?" Lucy asked, looking at her in concern.

Levy felt herself blushing, and rubbed at her face awkwardly. "Yeah, sorry," she said, smiling at her friend sheepishly. "I've just been really distracted lately."

"Well, you've already finished all your work up for the day, and I don't think anyone else is going to be rushing in tonight," the blonde said with a huff, looking out at the mostly empty library. There were a few college-aged kids using the computers, and a young girl with dark hair was curled up with one of the Harry Potter books in the kids section. "Why don't you go home early?"

"Are you sure?" Levy asked. She knew Lucy had been working some _long_ hours recently at Fairy Tail. She and her team, the Zodiac 9, had been busting their asses trying to defeat the Oracion Seis, and Lucy had been up at all hours of the night, coordinating her team's movements from the secret base not even two floors below their feet. But Lucy just smiled.

"I have the night off anyways, so I might as well give a few extra hours to the one who still might have plans," Lucy whispered. "Go home, Lev. Go bother Cana for a few hours! That always cheers you up." Levy laughed, nodding.

"If you insist-"

"I do! Goooooo!" Lucy playfully shoved at her arm, pushing until Levy was out of her chair, running towards the break room with a bright smile on her face.

* * *

Levy was fast. Not as fast as Jet, of course, but she could run a five-minute mile and she knew how to make her environment work for her. It made keeping up with bad guys fairly easy, and it was no different with Kurogane.

It just so happened that with Kurogane, she also had to deal with the distracting realization that he had a _really _nice butt.

"I can feel ya starin' at my ass!" Levy tripped over herself for a moment, and picked up her speed as his laugh trailed after him.

"In your dreams!"

"Shorty, at this point in my dreams one of us is already half-naked and pressed against a wall!"

A long, lead pipe jumped into his path seemingly on its own, thanks to Levy; making Kurogane stumble over his own feet and giving Levy enough time to catch up. She slammed her shoulder into his spine, adding impact to the blow with her powers, and shoved him against the wall. Trapping his hands by his shoulders, she pressed herself close against his back to give him less room to move.

"This better?" she purred, and a more genuine smile tugged at her lips when Kurogane hummed.

"Almost. Feel like losing the suit, Bluebird?"

"I think between the both of us, your clothes would be easier to take off."

"I'd tease ya for knowing that, but yer probably right, so…"

Levy laughed, pressing her forehead between his shoulderblades. It all felt startlingly casual, like he hadn't just trashed one of Makarov's businesses (a restaurant that doubled as a cover for some of their guild members and a place where those with more... delicate nutritional needs could get the food they needed, no questions asked) and she wasn't trying to put him in jail. They were just two people that had run into each other, dancing around their attraction to the other and trying to force the other into making the first move.

You know, two people of whom one was made of metal and the other could now benchpress 300 pounds with her brain.

Kurogane shifted against the wall, the nice ass she had just recently noticed brushing against her stomach. "As much fun as this is," he rumbled, "feel like letting me go?"

"Not until the police arrive, no," Levy said with a raised eyebrow. Contemplating his back, she pressed a light kiss right where her forehead had been a few moments before, right smack dab between his shoulder-blades. Kurogane inhaled sharply, the air rattling around in his lungs shakily, and Levy had no time to think before she found herself quickly overpowered.

Now Kurogane was the one pinning _her _to the wall, and Levy couldn't deny the spark of panic low in her gut, just barely stronger than the sensation of heat focusing into an unbearable point between her hips. Simon's words echoed in her head, and she remembered that kissing game or not, Kurogane was a dangerous criminal.

The aforementioned criminal was currently staring at her intensely, red eyes burning into her very soul as his hands pinned her wrists to the wall with a surprisingly gentle grip. The world slid to a slow halt, and for a few moments, Levy could have easily believed that there was no one in the world but the two of them. Her breath panted out between her lips, and her breasts pressed into Kurogane's chest with each inhale.

The armored man growled low in his throat, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "_fuck it_", and then he was kissing her.

Dark, surprisingly soft lips slanted over hers hungrily, taking the breath from her lungs like a drowning man desperate for air. He had dropped his hands from her wrists in order to cradle the back of her neck, but suddenly Levy wasn't too keen to make use of her newfound freedom.

In fact, as soon as he had, her hands were gripping the material of his sleeveless muscle shirt and dragging him down to her height so she could return the kiss with ease.

Jet and Droy were going to kill her if they found out, she thought in the tiny part of her brain that wasn't already mush.

Kurogane tugged on her lower lip carefully with his sharpened teeth, groaning lowly in his throat, and Levy decided that at that moment, she really didn't care.

* * *

"What's wrong?"

"Hello to you, too," Levy said, rolling her eyes as she ducked under Cana's arm to enter her friend's apartment. She made a beeline for the kitchen, focusing on following the scent of pizza instead of the way Cana's eyes bore into her. "What've we got tonight?"

"What we have every time," Cana responded, closing and locking the door before following Levy to the kitchen. "Now stop dodging the question."

Levy dropped her purse on the floor carelessly, focusing on keeping her expression neutral. Damn Cana and her perceptive nature. "Which question was that, again?" she asked innocently.

"Levy, I had to text you three times just to reach you and remind you we had dinner, and when you finally messaged me back it was nearly seven," Cana said incredulously. "You're never late for pizza night! _Ever!_ Something's wrong."

"I was just really tired," Levy said with a sheepish shrug, smiling. "You know how it is. I've been out a bunch of nights this week, so I haven't been sleeping well."

"Really?" Cana deadpanned, watching Levy open the kitchen cabinet to find a drinking glass. "Because Mira said you requested the whole week off save for emergencies, and that you haven't been out since Monday."

Cana's hand was already waiting to catch the glass cup Levy's suddenly-numb fingers dropped, placing it on the counter and grabbing the other woman's wrist gently before she could try and cover her face. "If something's wrong, Blue, don't keep it bottled up," Cana said softly. Levy looked at her with wide eyes. "We both know what happens when heroes keep shit bottled up."

Chewing nervously on her bottom lip, Levy thought over her options before slowly nodding. "I'm going to need pizza and alcohol for this," she grumbled, rubbing her cheek. Cana just shook her head and nudged her towards the couch in the living room.

"No stress drinking, you know my rule," she said. "I'll grab you some pizza; just get settled in and relaxed." Levy passed through the apartment with familiar ease, collapsing on the long couch. She exhaled heavily, covering her eyes with her forearm and watching the sparks of light dance across her eyelids.

It had been a week since her impromptu kiss with Kurogane, and since then she had been making every excuse she could to avoid going back out on patrol. She had had a serious lapse in judgement, and she wanted nothing more than to never see Kurogane ever again.

At the same time, she'd lost track of how many times she'd thought about that kiss since; only in her mind it had never ended. There was no moment of shared silence after he pulled away, the two of them slowly realizing exactly what they had done, and what had been started. There was no police sirens to scare Kurogane off, the phantom heat of his hand burned onto her waist and a metal pipe twisted around her wrist to keep her from following him.

No, in her daydreams they stayed in that quiet alley, learning how the other liked to be kissed as the world continued on around them. In some of her dreams, it had gone even further than that, and Levy always woke up restless and ashamed.

She was torn between never leaving her apartment again and tracking down Kurogane to demand an encore.

"Hawaiian pizza and cheesy bread, your favorite!" Cana presented proudly, setting the plates down on the coffee table before joining Levy on the couch; settling herself over the smaller woman's lap and sending Levy into peals of laughter.

"Get off of me!" she demanded through breathless laughter, trying to shove the taller woman off. Cana simply grinned and wiggled further into Levy's lap until she was just warm deadweight that the younger woman would have had to levitate to move. "Your girlfriend is going to have some very interesting questions for us if she walks in on us like this," Levy teased, but Cana just scoffed.

"Via's got a long shift at the hospital tonight, and besides, she knows me too well to be worried," she said dismissively, a soft smile alighting on her face like it always did whenever she thought of her long-term girlfriend.

"You've been dating for nearly two years and I still haven't met her," Levy mused, beginning to play with some of Cana's long, dark curls that were draped over her legs. "That ever going to happen?"

Cana hummed happily. "When she gets a break in her schedule and I can introduce her to you guys without worrying that she'll work out the whole '_superhero_' thing before I can tell her, yeah. Fairy Tail is a lot of things when we're all in one room together, 'subtle' is not one of them."

"She doesn't _know _yet?" Levy asked incredulously. "Like, she doesn't even suspect?" Being able to see as far as five minutes into the immediate future whenever she wanted to wasn't exactly the subtlest superpower, not the way Cana used it. It was actually unnerving sometimes, how Cana would answer a question that hadn't even asked yet or was always one step ahead in a fight, already waiting to catch a falling object or person or dodge a blow.

"No, she doesn't, and stop trying to change the subject!" Cana said, poking Levy's stomach mercilessly. "Tell me what's up with you, Blue."

Levy sighed, letting herself sink back against the couch as she reached for her pizza. "Let me figure out wording real fast," she said, carefully holding her plate under her food so none of it fell on Cana's face.

"'Mkay, but know that I will not be letting you leave this apartment until you spill." Levy just hummed in agreement, taking a large bite of her pizza. How was she going to tell Cana about this? She couldn't confess to having made out with a supervillain in a back alley; even if Cana wouldn't turn her in, there was always the chance of the rest of the guild somehow finding out. Levy would lose her spot in the guild and would have no place to go. She could always go home to Arizona and her mother's waiting arms, but that would mean leaving all her friends and the life she had built for herself. She had her own apartment and a job and a dog and everything!

She also couldn't _lie_ to Cana; Cana knew her too well. The psychic super heroine had been one of Levy's first friends when she and her boys made the move to Magnolia to join Fairy Tail, and they had been close ever since. Any story she could make up would ring falsely and Cana would dig until she got the whole story out.

So Levy settled on a half-truth.

"I… may be having a bit of a tryst," Levy confessed after she had finished her first slice of pizza, setting the plate down before she finished speaking and quickly leaning back against the couch. It turned out to be a smart move on her part, for no sooner had she said '_tryst_', had Cana shot out of her lap and turned to stare at her with wide eyes.

"Our little Levy McGarden is having a tryst?" she asked, sounding almost giddy.

"While in costume," Levy confessed, and Cana shrieked with laughter.

"You bad girl!" Cana crowed proudly, hugging the younger woman with one hand while the other began messing up her wild curls even further. "For how long? Are they a civilian? How'd you meet!"

"Not for very long!" Levy gasped out, struggling to get out of Cana's hold. "It just happened recently!"

"What do you mean you're not telling me who they are!?"

"You jumped again," Levy said with a pout. She finally managed to slither out of Cana's hold while she was distracted with her vision. "Do I want to know how we got there?"

"You made out with them a week ago and you refuse to tell me who they are," Cana said, "and no, I will not interrogate them if you do."

"Yes you will," Levy said flatly.

"Okay, maybe I'll follow them for a while, but not _harass_!"

"Yes you will."

"Yes I will."

Levy laughed, already feeling lighter. Even if Cana didn't know the whole truth, having someone who at least _knew_ made her feel better.

"Is that why you've requested off for a week?" Cana asked, all of the mirth suddenly gone from her expression and replaced by compassionate understanding.

Levy shrugged, suddenly very interested in her second slice of pizza. "Maybe," she murmured. "My mask is supposed to be used for protecting the city, not for sneaking kisses in back alleys."

"Eh," Cana said with a dismissive wave of her hand, "it's not like you're the first super to ever make out with a civilian while in costume, and I doubt you'll be the last. You can't let them keep you from what you love doing."

"Oh?" Levy said, a slow smile creeping across her lips. "And that is?"

"Kicking supervillain ass," Cana said with a smirk, sending Levy into further peals of laughter. "So," she began as she laced her fingers under her chin, amethyst eyes sparkling mischievously, "are they a good kisser?"

"_Cana!_"

* * *

She had never been so grateful that she was on a team and wasn't a solo fighter like some of Fairy Tail. With Jet and Droy by her side, she didn't have to face down any opponent alone. When the darkness got too thick, they were always there to get her through and back towards the light. All that she lacked, they had in spades, and she completed them in return.

They had been a team since the first time Levy had noticed how her next door neighbor's small garden grew too lushly for the dry Arizona climate and how the boy that would visit always moved a second too quickly. She still remembered how their faces had lit up in childish wonder as Levy made all their Legos lift into the air and flit around their heads in fanciful loops.

They stood together against all enemies, and Levy knew they would always back her up no matter what.

But she had never been more thankful for their presence than she was the first time she faced off against Kurogane after their kiss.

It was by pure luck - good or bad, Levy couldn't tell - that they ran into him when they did that night. He looked like he had been on his way to commit some crime against humanity, and they had managed to find him before he could.

Of course, a small part of Levy's mind took note of the way his eyes had locked onto her when she had dropped onto the roof, barely giving her teammates an annoyed glance, and whispered that maybe he had been looking for her.

The thought that that little voice might be right terrified her.

"Well, well, well," Jet drawled, falling into a casual stance as they stared down the super villain together. "What have we here?"

"Fuck off, Speedy," Kurogane growled, low in his throat. The sound made Levy shiver, and if there was a merciful god, the armored villain wouldn't have noticed it. "I ain't got time for ya tonight."

"Shouldn't have come out then," Droy cut in, vines already curling behind him from where they had climbed up the side of the building, waving ominously in the non-existent breeze. "So, what's your target tonight? Bank? The museum? Perhaps you came out to steal candy from the orphanage or kick some puppies. That seems like your M.O."

Kurogane's growling got louder, and it wasn't hard to notice that Droy had hit a nerve. "If we're goin' to fight, let's fight then!" he yelled, the scales on his arms raising dangerously.

"Just waiting for you, Porcupine," Jet said with a fierce grin, and Levy suddenly wanted to slink back and fly away from the fight all together. She didn't want to be here, and more importantly, she didn't Jet and Droy anywhere around this man. It would only take a few words from him to ruin their trust in her, and if she lost those two boys, she didn't know what she'd do. They'd stay by her side, because that's just who Jet and Droy were, but Levy wouldn't be able to stand seeing the disappointment and heartbreak in their eyes if they discovered what she had kept from them.

But Levy wasn't Levy at that moment; she was the still-unnamed leader of team Shadowgear, and she had a duty to her teammates. Maybe if she got lucky, she'd knock Kurogane out before he could make any snide remarks about her kissing technique (did he think she was a good kisser? Bad kisser? Did _she _think _he _was a good kisser?)

(Yes. Yes she did.)

Jet shot forward with a burst of his wholly unnatural speed, but Kurogane was ready for him, arms already up to block whatever attack he might use. His scales were up, like an animal that had been backed into a corner, but as Levy began to support her teammates' attacks with her own powers, she noticed that the look in his eyes was completely human. There was no panic or anger, just cold determination. It wasn't chance that they had found him, and dread kept a cold grip on her lungs.

She also noticed that while Kurogane hadn't stopped moving since Jet launched his first attack, he wasn't fighting back. He was dodging with a grace and fluidity that someone that big couldn't possibly naturally possess, ducking and weaving around each of Droy's thorned attacks while simultaneously bracing himself against any attack Jet might land. Half of the debris she threw halfheartedly at him got knocked out of the way with a dismissive gesture, and she cursed her own cowardice and hesitation. So they kissed in some alley in Magnolia's art district!? So he had shown her a few hints of careful and gentle nature underneath the metal scales!? He was a supervillain and she was a motherfucking superhero! She was stronger than this!

No sooner had she thought that when suddenly Jet cried out in frustration, and Levy's head jerked towards him. Somehow, Kurogane had maneuvered him around Droy and straight into their teammate's vines, tangling the speedy super hero in the grasping tendrils. "Jetstream!" she hollered, lifting herself into the air gracefully and flying towards Kurogane to buy the boys some time to untangle. The armored villain turned towards her calmly, arms held up in a defensive position as his red eyes burned into her. When she had seen Kurogane for the first time, she had thought his eyes looked like blood spilled over the asphalt. Now he was an inferno, and the flames were eating her alive from the inside out.

"And here I thought you were going to keep hiding behind your boys," he drawled as they began to circle each other, and Levy felt a familiar spark of anger flare in the pit of her stomach. Her lips pulled back into a snarl.

"Nah, hiding is more of Phantom Lord's thing," she shot back, reaching behind her mentally to search for something to fling at him, and cursing the owners of the building that kept their roof so clean. A grin flashed across Kurogane's face for a moment before being replaced with a cocky smirk, and her eyebrows furrowed together. Was he laughing at her or her joke?

She didn't have time to consider that any further as Kurogane made his first offensive move, darting in closer to her with his fist raised. She dodged the blow easily, and soon they were trading blows back and forth. Her size and her vastly improved control over her flying made it easy for her to dodge him, and he seemed to know what she was going to do before she even knew herself and stayed one step ahead of her attacks.

"You got it, Shadow?" Droy called out, his vines nervously twisting behind him as Jet kept a steady stream of curses going as he fought to untangle himself, fighting with the plants that Droy had breeded and cultivated to naturally latch onto their target, regardless if they were a friend or foe.

"She's got it covered!" Kurogane snapped, ducking under Levy's boot as she aimed her heel at the side of his head, the armored supervillain sliding along the roof to pop up behind her.

Levy rolled her eyes, both at her teammates and at Kurogane's response. "I'm good!" she reassured them, pushing herself high into the air as he tried to grab her from behind. She twisted around once she was high enough, shooting back down at a speed that could give Jet a run for his money (hehe, run) as she aimed to knock Kurogane off the roof using the momentum she had built up. But Kurogane was waiting for her, and by the time she realized that, it was too late.

He grabbed onto her upper arm with a grip that somehow was tight enough that she couldn't jerk away, yet didn't bruise her dark skin, as she attempted to change course midway through her flight. She cried out in alarm as she was pulled back into him, locked against his chest by arms that more closely resembled iron girders than anything remotely human. Levy began to squirm and kick out wildly, growling curses under her breath as she heard both Jet and Droy call out "SHADOW!"

Everything stopped when she felt the press of warm lips against the skin just behind her ear, the faintest feeling of teeth scraping her skin, and moist breath against her ear as Kurogane whispered "We need to talk" barely loud enough for her to hear.

Levy had no time to recover as Kurogane suddenly disappeared, dodging just in time for one of Droy's vines to miss him by inches and instead wrap around Levy's waist. She let herself be yanked back towards her teammates, her wide eyes meeting Kurogane's for a single moment in time before he disappeared off the roof.

The vine released her into Droy's waiting arms, and she clung to him just as tightly as he did to her, both shaking terribly - though for two very different reasons.

"Are you okay?" Droy asked urgently, stroking her back with his gloved hand as she tucked her face into his cowl. She nodded, not trusting her voice when the only thought running through her head was "He kissed me again he kissed me again he kissed me again why do I want _more?"_

"Shadow!" Jet cried out, kicking himself free of the last few vines before racing to her side as well. "He didn't hurt you, did he!?"

"He could have snapped you in half!"

"You have to be more careful!"

"I'm fine, guys," she said shakily, smiling at her boys as they fretted over her. "Really. You got me out before he did any real damage."

"Not that we were any help," Jet growled, looking mad. "I should have been paying better attention, I'm sorry."

"It was my fault," Droy cut in, gently setting Levy down before clapping his hand on Jet's shoulder. "I need to keep my vines under better control, or at least not use that type so often."

"We can work on this all later," Levy said softly, mind going a thousand miles per hour. "Kurogane's still out there and who knows what he's after tonight?"

Her, apparently.

"You're right, we need to go after him," Jet said, looking determined. "I'll take the north quadrant, you two take the-"

"No!" Levy said quickly, making both of her teammates look at her with wide eyes. "You guys go south, I'll take the north." She could see the protests forming on their tongues, and held her hand up before they could get started. "The northern part of town is smaller, and there's more alleyways and small streets he can hide in. I can get a better view from the air while you two split up and tackle the south."

"Are you sure you want to be on your own right now?" Droy asked carefully, Jet nodding in agreement. No, she wasn't. But Kurogane wanted something, and it was better if she got it from him alone before he had a chance to go to the guild's anonymous tip line, or whatever he planned to do with the whole "_Shadowgear's beloved leader is snogging super villains while on the clock_" info. If she could contain and stop this now, she would. Levy inhaled deeply, centering her thoughts before she grinned brightly at the two.

"Best way to recover when you fall off is to get right back on again, right?" she said with a playful shrug. "I'll be ready for him this time; I wasn't thinking before. If I see him, I'll call you guys first thing."

The two older heroes shared a look before nodding, both stepping up to give Levy a tight hug. "Be careful," Jet said firmly, stepping back before grinning at her, ruffling her hair. "I still need a babysitter this weekend and I don't trust this bozo."

"I resent that comment and I _will _kick you off this roof," Droy said flatly, making Levy laugh. She really did love her boys.

"Alright, I'll see you guys back at headquarters in, let's say, two hours?" she said, taking a small step back before lifting into the air so she was hovering in front of them. Jet and Droy both voiced their agreements, waving her off as she flew out over the city, and she put on a burst of speed as soon as they turned and began to leap across the rooftops of Magnolia. If Kurogane wanted to talk to her, she had a pretty good idea of where he'd be. If she was wrong, she'd look until she found him; he had too much on her, and she knew in no uncertain terms that she would get no sleep until she found him.

Levy dropped down into the small alley with a quiet '_thud_', landing in a crouch and staying low as she surveyed the area. No sign of Kurogane yet, but while he might have a few minutes head start, she was faster in the air than he was on the ground. Carefully rising to her feet, Levy turned around the corner and found herself facing a familiar brick wall. Apparently the owners of the building hadn't had time to fix the pipe that Kurogane had twisted around her wrist yet, and Levy let her shaky fingers rest on the loop of steel.

"We need to talk."

Levy was woman enough to admit that he had spooked her, causing the heroine to jump in place before spinning around. Kurogane leaned against the wall closer to the entrance of the alley, everything but his burning eyes hidden in the shadows, and she shivered; in fear or arousal, she didn't know.

"Yes, we do," she said quietly.

He moved towards her slowly, his eyes moving up and down her body while he passed her, and she felt his gaze like a physical thing on her skin. "Come on," he said, ticking his head towards the back of the building where she had landed, "don't need any pedestrians wondering what a Fairy Tail hero and her nemesis were talkin' about when the rest of the world wakes up tomorrow morning."

"You sure you're not just trying to lure me away so there will be fewer witnesses when you kill me?" she asked dubiously, not moving from her spot. Much to her surprise, Kurogane laughed - that deep, rich sound that made heat rush through her body.

"Oh, so ya trust me enough to shove yer tongue down my throat, but not enough to follow me down a dark alley?" he asked teasingly, and Levy pouted at him while her cheeks burned hotly at his crass choice of words. She stormed past him, grumbling about annoying villains under her breath as she made her way to the back of the building, Kurogane's laughter following her.

She spun on her heel, ready to rip him a new one, but nearly swallowed her tongue when she realized how _close _he was to her. He looked over her, his scales reflecting the dim light as his hand moved towards her. She flinched when his clawed fingers met her arm, but he didn't scratch her delicate skin mercilessly like she expected. He instead carefully peeled down the top of her long glove until it was bunched up around her elbow, running his fingers carefully along her tanned, freckled skin and breathing a sigh of relief.

"Good," he said softly, and Levy had never felt more exposed or torn in her whole life. Was he… was he checking to see if he had bruised her earlier during their fight? Her head swam as, again, she was confronted by the same Kurogane that had risked his own life selflessly for a child's, and she wanted to step closer towards him until she was tucked against his wide chest. She shouldn't feel so safe with him, but her fight or flight instinct was being oddly quiet.

"You weren't trying to hurt us," Levy whispered. "Not just me, but Jetstream and Thorn too."

"I figured you'd be more likely to listen to me if I didn't piss you off first," Kurogane admitted, fingers carefully trailing down her skin until he was craddling her elbow.

"So you were looking for me?"

"You were gone for a whole week."

"I thought you'd be happy about that," Levy said, considering him carefully.

"I couldn't sleep the whole time," he admitted, and Levy's breath caught in her throat. Whoever was speaking now, it wasn't the cocky, armored man she was used to. This Kurogane was being almost dangerously frank, and she wondered distantly if this was closer to what he was like in his civilian life.

The alley was silent for a few moments, and Levy took a deep breath to steady herself. "Because we kissed?" she asked quietly, and his hand twitched against her covered skin.

"Because you drive me mad," he replied, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Do you know how long I've been wanting to do that?"

Levy shook her head, suddenly mute as her stomach crawled up her throat and her heart beat wildly in her chest. He'd wanted to kiss her? Wait, was Tempest talking about _her _all those weeks ago!? Had Kurogane been flirting with her and she missed it?

He drew her out from her frantic thoughts when he inhaled shakily, wetting his mouth with a tongue that Levy knew more than she rightfully should. "Do you regret it?" he asked her, looking away from her covered collarbones and meeting her eyes. "Letting me kiss you?"

Levy was shaking all over, trying not to break his gaze. "... I don't know," she confessed, and was surprised to find it was the truth. Did she regret that she had kissed a supervillain that might have had all sorts of plans for how to use the whole situation against her? Oh, definitely. Did she regret kissing _him, _though?

"I'm scared," she whispered, "but... not of you. "

"Do you regret it?" Kurogane asked again, taking a step closer.

"I don't know anything about you at all," Levy breathed.

"You know me better than anyone else has bothered to," he said, his hand slowly moving towards her shoulder as his other hand gripped her hip. "Do you regret it?"

The world slowed down again, silence suddenly drowning out the sound of her pulse in her ears, and Levy felt her lips moving around words she had been guarding in the darkest parts of her heart for the past week.

"Only if you don't do it again."

His mouth was on hers as soon at the words had passed her lips, clutching her closer to him as he kissed her. He was desperate, just like last time, only instead of drinking her in, he was trying to filter as much of himself into the kiss as he could. Levy clung to his shoulders as she let him, taking him in as their mouths moved together. His lips were rougher this time, like he'd been chewing on them nervously, and for some reason the thought made her laugh and he nipped her bottom lip in response.

"What are we doing?" Levy breathed, clinging to his shoulders like he was all that was keeping her standing.

Kurogane hummed. "Something really stupid that's probably going to get us both killed," he said with a shrug.

"Oh, okay. As long as we're both aware."

"Do you want me to stop?"

It was Levy's turn to hum in thought, eyebrows furrowing in consideration. She snuck a look up at the man that still had his hands on her hips and was surprised by how raw he looked. The same scales that he'd always had were there, but his whole face somehow looked softer due to the small, nervous smile on his face. Despite all she knew he had done, Levy couldn't find it in her in that moment to think he was truly bad. Even supervillains couldn't act that well. It was less than a split second decision, but Levy knew that of all the things she did anything during her time in Fairy Tail, she wanted one of those things to be saving him.

"Not on your life," she said, smiling brilliantly as she pulled him down for another kiss, and this time it was him who began to laugh against her lips.

* * *

_So this may have taken a bit longer than I had expected it to, but in my defense, I smashed out the first chapter in less than a week and then I had to focus on Vows fic for a while. Not to mention that the originally three-chapter long fic has since doubled in size during the planning *lays on floor*. I also promised smut in the last chapter, but you know what they say about the best things and those who wait._

_But yes, have some trash children kissing when they really shouldn't be lol. I'm really excited for the rest of this fic, even if I don't know when it's going to come out. I won't promise any updates anytime soon, since I'm going to try and update Vows monthly now, but I'm not going to abandon this fic. I love this story too much~_

_Again, Sela is Lionus and I's OC._

_Thanks to everyone who has faved, followed and reviewed this fic! See you all next update!_


End file.
